Neither the pairing nor the event date has been made official by
the promotion as of yet, and the location of the show also remains
a mystery. MMAJunkie.com first reported the Jan. 12 re-booking on
Wednesday. Rockhold was initially supposed to defend his
championship against Larkin on Nov. 3 in Oklahoma City. However,
both the bout and the card were canceled after Rockhold and several
other key players on the bill withdrew due to injury.

Rockhold, 28, rides a nine-fight winning streak heading into his
third middleweight title defense. The Californian has tasted defeat
just once since beginning his pro career in 2007 and owns eight of
his 10 victories by either knockout or submission. Rockhold wrested
the belt from around the waist of Ronaldo
Souza last year and has since defended it twice successfully,
stopping UFC veteran Keith
Jardine in January and then taking a unanimous decision over
ex-Strikeforce title challenger Tim Kennedy
on July 14.

Larkin, 26, has been perfect in his pro career, save for a January
knockout loss to former light heavyweight champion Muhammed
Lawal that was later changed to a no-contest by the Nevada
Athletic Commission after “King Mo” tested positive for an anabolic
steroid. Larkin then made the cut to middleweight, taking a July
decision over onetime EliteXC titlist Robbie
Lawler to earn a crack at Rockhold’s belt.